Predictable Healing PRF/ PRP Blood Work Course

Last Thursday we were privileged to have attended a course in North Carolina about using blood concentrates and bone grafting to speed up a patient’s healing and recovery after oral surgery, sinus lift, root canals and other intensive dental procedure. The course was called Predictable Healing and it included topics in: using prf/prp blood concentrates, phlebotomy techniques, blood concentrate processing, injectable prf and mixing with bone grafting materials. The point of this hands-on course was to help us at Artistic Smiles to make an informed, unbiased decision on when and how to use each of the blood concentrate materials at various surgical sites.

Some of the terms used in the opening paragraph may have sounded like a foreign language to you if you’re not a dentist or in the medical field. I’ll explain it a little better.

Anytime you undergo any type of surgery, you’re going to lose blood which will need to be replaced after surgery. In recent years, blood transfusions enriched with platelets better promote so ft tissue growth and regeneration, which is healing. There are techniques used to make PRP (platelet rich plasma) blood and PRF (platelet rich fibrin). Both involve blood being centrifuged and separating the poor and bad blood platelets. PRF is similar to PRP blood, but has a more gel-like consistency, making it better suited for repairing damage to the patient’s mouth caused by such procedures as an abscessed tooth extraction and in endodontics. The gel-like consistency of the fibrin is caused by a matrix of PRPs and leukocyte (white blood cells).

Besides being used in dentistry, the use of this type of blood is used in dermatology and orthopedics. While there is no standard as to how much concentration of platelets is sufficient in blood transfusions, it is widely accepted as having at least 3-5 times that in the patient’s natural blood.

Since 2009, the FDA has only approved of two PRP preparation methods. As mentioned earlier, both methods involve blood centrifuge. The centrifugation separates the platelet-rich plasma from the red blood cells and the platelet poor plasma. The recognized baseline for platelet count in human blood is 200,000 per µL.

While blood can be inserted into the patient immediately after the procedure, fibrin needs to be stitched in place. Fibrin, more or less, acts as a protective covering for exposed tissue and nerves. Elements containing bone growth can also be inserted into the fibrin. This makes the healing of bone grafts, root canals, implants, sinus reconstruction, mouth reconstruction and extensive endodontic procedures quicker and less painful as the bone begins to grow and heal.

All this to say is that we at Artistic Smiles want to provide the best service and experience for our patients. Having oral surgery or any extensive dental procedure done is scary and the healing process is usually slow and painful. By using what we learned at the Predictable Healing course we aim to decrease the pain and recovery time for our patients.

Whether or not you need to have a major or minor dental procedure done, contact us today to set up an appointment. Our professional dental staff will make you feel at ease and our use of the latest technology and best practices will ensure your procedure is done properly and efficient.